New Recruit
by BrutusDeagon
Summary: Kevin has just graduated from the ZPD Academy. During the ceremony a terrorist attack propels his career faster than he ever dreamed possible.


**A/N: So I almost forgot and then nearly missed my friend TheConcernedFox's birthday. The night before during a blackout I came up with this story and wrote it on an old iPad that belonged to my brother's ex-girlfriend. Should only have a few chapters total because this is just a short story for his birthday after all. So Happy Birthday CFox.**

The black furred fox stood straight and as tall as he could in his dress uniform. He could not believe he had made it. Graduating from the ZPD Academy had been his dream and now it has been achieved. The months of hard work had paid off. At the top of that stage his badge would be pinned on his chest.

"Hey, Kevin, you nervous?" The taller feline next to him asked in a whisper.

If anything the proud smile on Kevin's muzzle only grew at the question. "Are you kidding me, Francis? I've been looking forward to this for as long as I can remember."

"Are you and your girlfriend fighting? I don't see her anywhere in the audience." Francis the prissy cougar mused aloud.

"Tammy is just my roommate. She never has been nor will be my girlfriend." The todd said with an annoyed huff. "Besides she's at work at Zootopia General."

His thoughts strayed to the poofy furred alpaca nurse he lived with. The older female treated him like a younger brother, offering teasing as often as advice. They would help each other study or drink together but their relationship had never been a romantic one. The age difference between them didn't even come into it. They just weren't each other's type.

The apartment was sized for her and had been a tad awkward for him at first but he had his own room and it had more than enough space for a small mammal like him. His bed barely took up a fifth of the room. It left more than enough space for his desk, dresser and computer. He had even toyed with the idea of a mini fridge and microwave so that he could cook for himself sometimes.

"I am glad I won't have to put up with your crap over her after today." Kevin said still mildly upset with his classmate.

"I'm sorry Kev. I just don't get how a guy and a girl living together like that have never hooked up."

"It was either her or Brutus and Brutus has thin walls and a bunny girlfriend." The fox said with a smirk.

"Doesn't he also have a daughter?"

"She's underage you horny moronic feline."

That shut the cat up as the ceremony finally got to their row. The recruits stood and walked as one to get their badges. Kevin's nose caught a scent that shouldn't be here and he stopped short causing the others to bump into him. Angry and confused exclamations sounded out behind him but none reached his ears as he identified the scent that his special training class had taught him to identify. A bomb was somewhere on the stage.

"Bomb!" He yelled out as loud as he could and mammals scattered away from the stage.

The scent led him to one of the speakers connected to the podium. For once he was grateful for the stubborn feline as he turned around to find Francis right behind him with a look of calm focus. The cougar had been in the military as a bomb disposal technician and had been top of his class in that area. In his paw was a multi tool that he never went anywhere without. A simple gesture was all it took to convey where the scent had come from and the cat went straight to work on the speaker.

With the panel removed the two could see a mess of wires around a block of C4, a cellphone and a glass jar of blue liquid and ball bearings. Francis studied the wires for a moment and then cut a few leading from the phone. Carefully he removed the jar and passed it to Kevin who took it with wide terrified eyes. Turning back to the bomb Francis made a few more cuts before pronouncing it safe to stop.

"Is this Nighthowler in here?" Kevin said his voice trembling.

"Yeah, I think so." His companion replied. "Looks like those not killed were meant to go on a rampage."

"Holy fuck!"

"Yeah, no kidding."

Sirens signaled the arrival of the bomb squad who were pleased with their new recruit. They placed the jar in a steel box lined with foam rubber and the rest of the bomb in a much larger one minus the foam. The rest of the recruits were just given their badges and told where to report the next day. With the ceremony ruined the top brass were pissed. A grey bunny doe and a red fox todd in lieutenant blues told the two heroes of the day that they would have to report to precinct one in the morning instead of what had been originally planned for them. Guess Kevin would have to be stuck with Francis for a while longer than he thought.

...

The drive from the Academy was uneventful but the radio was all over the story already. A bomb placed to kill cops where the press was ready to do a filler piece will make some mammal's career. Pulling into underground parking garage for his building, Kevin noticed that many spaces were empty with his neighbors all out at work and what not.

He stopped abruptly nearly crashing into a car that was parked in his space. Angrily and stressed out over the day Kevin put his pickup in park and climbed out. The fox didn't know whose car it was and at the moment he didn't give a shit. Pulling his phone from his pocket he took a picture and sent it to his landlord and to the nearest precinct. His landlord replied that it must be somebody's late night visitor and the precinct told him to block them in until the tow truck arrived. Apparently the owner was not a very considerate guy and would park wherever he pleased earning him many a parking ticket. They were all unpaid.

"You guys just made my day." The vulpine said into his phone happily.

Minutes later a brown weasel walks up to the truck and yells at Kevin to move so he can leave. Kevin opens the door and steps back out and the weasel turns pale. He was obviously not expecting a cop to be the owner of the space he had appropriated.

"Mr Weselton," Kevin began before being cut off.

"Weaselton!"

"Weaselton then. This is my space reserved for my truck. You have no right to park there. I'm not moving my vehicle until the tow truck arrives to impound your car. If I were you I would arrange a ride in a hurry because if you are still here when they get here you will likely be arrested for unpaid parking tickets. Am I clear?"

Weaselton didn't bother with answering and just ran out of the parking garage. The small time crook was not worth Kevin's time to chase. A few minutes later and the weasel's car was gone and his truck was back where it belonged. He walked to the elevator and rode to his floor humming along to the awful music while he reflected on the days events. If he hadn't caught that scent they could have all died. ZPD would have been beheaded without the Chief and he would not have been able to fulfill his dream. The doors opened and he walked without really registering where he was going. He pulled out his key and reached up to put it in the lock and turned it.

"Oh my Gods, Kevin!" The alpaca cried as she picked him up into a bone crushing hug. "I saw what happened on the news and rushed home. I can't believe someone would do this. Are you okay?"

"Mphfmble," he said, unable to make any real sounds from within her fuzzy wool.

She put him down and said, "what?"

"I said I can't breathe." He chuckled as he wheezed. "I'm going to Precinct One in the morning to make my report. Judy and Nick, the ones who solved the first Nighthowler case, need Francis and I to help them figure out who did this."

"Wow," she breathed out in shock. "I thought you were going to be placed in the Rainforest District."

"I was but with this they think that it would be a good idea to put me with them for now and see if I can make a difference." He said excitedly, "If it all goes well I might just be placed there permanently once this is over."

"Oh my Gods I'm so happy for you!" She squealed. "Oh call Brutus. Our big brother will want to come over and celebrate with us."

"Yeah and he will keep us from drinking too." Kevin added. "I don't want to be hungover on my first day after all."

...

The black wolf arrived carrying snacks and sodas. His arms were so full that it was left to his lover to open the door into their friends apartment. The red and grey rabbit fox hybrid preferred to just tell mammals that she was a bunny to prevent confusion and the occasional prejudiced tirade. Sandy had fallen for her wolf before they had even met face to face and he had for her just as quickly. Both knew that it would not be long before he proposed but first they would both have to get over their awful exes.

"Hey guys the party has arrived!" He called into the living room as he made his way to the kitchen with his load. "You two had better have the games out and the alcohol put away or Big Brother will be mad!" He joked.

The apartments occupants followed him into the kitchen reassuring him that there was no drinking going on and the game that he'd given them was on the coffee table waiting for players. Returning to the living room with bowls of snacks and drinks the four settled into seats to play the card game Munchkin. It is a fantasy parody game where the whole idea is to back-stab your friends, kill the monsters and reach level ten with as much treasure as possible before your opponents. The four mammals played till nearly eleven that night laughing and talking about the days events. Sandy noticed the clock and apologized telling their friends that the two would have to leave. With one last round of goodnight and good luck the lovers left the roommates alone and went home.


End file.
